A Letter to Home

[theheroics]

Sender: Zack Fair
To: All
Subject: No Subject (Backdated to the first week)

[ Words that begin to appear in the journals are written slowly, as if with intent. The handwriting is... coherent at best at this slower pace, but every word is coming in gradually and seemingly with more frustration.

Guess who thinks this is just a plain ol' journal to use? ]

Dear Aeir
What's up!?
Hello! Hey th———

Hey Aerith.
Hope things are going well?? good for you

[ UGH ]

Sorry it's taken so long for me to write back... I know youve been waiting a long time
I can't call right now but soon, okay?
how are the flowers? you swimming in gil yet?
Theirs theres lots of weird stuff going on that I'll explain when I get back.
So... yeah. See you soon
Regard [ No that was SO STUPID ]
bye

[ The words at the bottom of the page are suddenly cut out, as if completely disregarded or tossed away.

But seconds later another one appears: ]

Hello!

[ Nope that one is gone, too. ]

Comments

[starshower]

Huh? Oh... no... You're already doing so much as it is.

[She wouldn't dare ask Zack to do any more than that. Well, okay... besides the obvious—]

Just make sure he eats proper food. I... don't even know if Cloud can cook... [She'd ask if SOLDIER taught that sort of thing but then she suddenly remembers again.] And that he... you know, doesn't stay inside all the time. Get him out there. Help him find some work?

[Ah, crap.... here she goes, worrying about him, and Tifa shrinks back in her chair.]

Sorry. I guess that is a lot to ask.

[theheroics]

[ Despite how difficult the conversation was at the beginning, Zack could feel himself become more physically relaxed as they two of them talked. ... But that's just how last time went, right? With tension, but eventually devolving into chuckles- something that Zack eagerly let's slip past his throat with the barrage of requests. ]

Don't sweat it, Tifa! He's going to be just fine. [ ... Eventually. He still had no idea what the root cause of the headaches were, or why, but now that they were on the same playing field, maybe they could figure out together. ]

You both will. [ He assures with a small smile. ]

we can prob wrap this here! (so I can hit up your other post hehe)

[starshower]

Yeah... We will.

[Her smile is still lopsided, but genuine.

Cloud is nothing if not resilient, and a touch stubborn about it. She trusts that he can take care of himself, and that when the time comes, they'll both come around and things will go right back to the way they were. Right now, however, she can't help but feel that tension squeezing at her heart, even without him here with her. With time, that will eventually fade, she knows... but it's hard while it hasn't.

She's at least grateful for Zack... which is a thing she never thought she'd think to herself. Strange how things turn themselves on their heads sometimes.]

Thanks, Zack. I'll owe you.

consumes all of the sheila threads

[theheroics]

I'll find something for you to repay me with in the future. [ He'll chuckle, finally finishing up the last bit of his coffee before stretching his arms out to relieve himself of any lingering stress that had built up in his muscles. ]

In the meantime... you just keep being you. I'll handle things on my side, and who knows— maybe we'll all have lunch like this sometime soon.

[ He knows it's not going to be easy for the two of them, but they'll manage. Both of them are a lot stronger than they look, and even more than that. Plus if everyone was going to get through this on the other side... it was going to be them.

So, while he didn't feel he entirely had a grasp on what was going on or certainly what was to come, he would be a pillar for the two of them to lean on if necessary.

The conversations following were becoming smaller and less urgent, and the estranged feeling he had felt at the beginning was soon dwindling away, replaced with a more casual and talkative air. Perhaps in a different timeline they could have actually been friends... but perhaps this world was a good way to start anew.

Just one coffee sip at a time. ]